The word always was that SBC was the smartest of the Bells. Living in MA, I see more SBC commercials than Verizon commercials, which would seem to coroberate CS’ claims of more to come. That said, I’ve never heard of telecom player that SBC wasn’t rumored to be interested in acquiring, yet the actual deals haven’t been particularly hot and heavy.

I’ve really tried to cut down on my comments because we are getting ever more closer to some really mind-blowing deals over the next 2 years, and I don’t want to give up too much information.

That being said, re:SBC, the thing to really watch is how masterfully they’ve managed to co-opt Yahoo (ditto PCS’s MVNO with ATT), and pull them into the fold.

As you recall SBC has enhanced and expanded its relationship with Yahoo on the heels of these new VoIP, TV, etc announcements.

Yahoo is a very big deal because its a software talent, and software is crucial for any bigtime player because software is the manifestation of users habits. Thus you can’t truly own your customers unless you own the software they use. That my friends is the lesson of Mr Softie.

Plus the FCC doesn’t control software. yet?

So far the relationships are this:
SBC-Yahoo, strong and tight
VZ-MSN, at arms length